Findings and Recommendations of

an independent professional review of

the Trinity River PARKWAY
April 2015

TRINITY
PARKWAY
DESIGN
CHARRETTE
REPORT

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION .........................................

004

planning workshop ...........................

008

the charrette ......................................

012

appendiX ..................................................

044

002

004

Since the early years of the formation of the vision for the
Trinity River Park, there has been a concept of some sort
of road going through the park, offering easy access for
users and sightseers. The park itself is an extraordinary
proposal, now being incrementally implemented, that
includes natural areas, active recreation opportunities,
lakes, trails, forests and hundreds of features within
thousands of acres of the ecological corridor of the river.
Unfortunately, for flood protection, the river corridor also
must be lined with 40-foot-tall levees that separate the
new park from the adjacent city. A key design challenge
from the beginning has been how to link the park and
city.
In summer of 2002, concerns about park and city
integration led to a planning and urban design analysis
undertaken by cooperating entities including The Dallas
Plan, AIA Dallas, and The Dallas Institute of Humanities
& Culture with consulting professionals Chan Krieger
& Associates, TDA, Hargreaves Associates and Carter
+ Burgess. This private effort led to a strong concept
called the Balanced Vision Plan for the Trinity River
Corridor, which was ultimately adopted by Dallas City
Council. This plan realized the full potential of the park
and included two road way alignments on the downtown
side of the river corridor a street at the top of the levee
and a parkway meandering through the park on an
elevated bench of land that was to be created from the
excavation of the new lakes. This plan reconciled many
interests and was widely popular.
With technical concerns about the integrity of the levee
structure, the street on top of the levee ultimately had to
be abandoned.
Over the years the roadway focus has shifted from the
roadway to flood protection efforts. Nonetheless, design
of the road was completed and application for federal
environmental approval was submitted. This has been

INTRODUCTION
a multi-year effort that has yet to secure the required
approval, although this is expected in the next few
months.

During this same period, concerns about the roadway

within the park continued to emerge. In 2007, a
plebiscite on the road went to Dallas voters and was
approved. Supporters of the roadway point especially
to the aspiration for people in southern Dallas to access
jobs and destinations in north Dallas. Other supporters
point out that the implementation funding for the park,
particularly the full lake system, is linked with the
excavation of the lakes providing soil for the bench.
However, the anxiety of critics of the roadway has
continued and has been significantly fueled by the
actual roadway design that was unveiled several years
ago, along with the conclusion to make the right-ofway a tollway. Once design standards, engineering
requirements, and tollway policies were added to the
original roadway concept, the design evolved into a highspeed, 6-to-8-lane, limited access highway with flyover
ramps to Downtown streets. Long-term opponents were
certainly not happy with the results and even those who
have supported the parkway through the years have felt
some disquiet about the now status quo design.
This led in 2014 to a citizen-based initiative to take a fresh
look at the situation by reviewing the roadway design
with the express intent to achieve a vehicular connection
with the lowest impacts and highest benefits possible.
These citizens indicated that they felt that there might be
another vision out there that would better meet the needs
of the new park they felt that maybe the park needed a
little special care and attention as this big debate about a
highway takes its natural political course. They wanted to
look at the whole question of access and circulation from
the perspective of the park. Specifically, they determined
that the review should look at roadway design as

influenced by park design and at economic development

potential as influenced by the roadway. This initiative
was sponsored by the Dallas Citizens Council, the Dallas
Regional Chamber, The Real Estate Council and the
Trinity Commons with the support of various donors.
The Trinity Design Charette and its participants were
announced by Mayor Mike Rawlings at a community
breakfast in November, 2014.

It was decided to do this review through a charrette

design process, inviting in distinguished experts from
around North America. A charrette is simply an intensive
several-day work session whereby experienced visiting
design professionals from a diverse set of relevant
disciplines work with local people on the specified
agenda of review. It was further decided to lead off the
process with a separate and earlier planning workshop
of key charrette participants to confirm the parameters
of the charrette, the agenda and the support needs for
the activity. It was decided that the overall two-event
process would have the following three objectives in
regard to the proposed roadway: inquiry; evaluation;
and generation of one or several proposals for what the
charrette participants felt would be the ideal configuration
for the roadway, adjacent park and nearby development.
The purpose of this report is to document this review.
The initial workshop was held in December, 2014, and the
full charrette was held in February, 2015.

006

PARAMETERS
The prime parameters for the review were as follows:
(1) This is a privately-funded, non-government review
the conveners and participants do not speak for the
governments who are responsible for this project, they did
not take instructions from these governments, they were
not beholden to these governments, and the results will
not necessarily be embraced by these governments or
represent existing government policy. We were paid by
community interests and we offer our resulting ideas to the
community.
(2) This review is not a part of the process for environmental
assessment and approval that the responsible governments
are involved in with the Federal Government and should not
be seen by anybody as having status in that assessment
and approval. In fact, our general view is that it is prudent to
complete the environmental assessment that is underway
because it encompasses most eventualities from which the
community can then decide what needs to be implemented
now and what can be afforded.
(3) This review worked from existing information and publicly
available plans and data, primarily from the environmental
assessment submission documentation, augmented by
briefings provided by informed staff with knowledge of this
project. No new information was collected or brought into
the review.
(4) This review was not an inquiry as to whether or not in
principle there should be a roadway in the park it was
only a review of roadway schemes to confirm an optimal
roadway scheme in relation to the park design and the

CONTEXT
potential for economic development on lands adjacent to
the park and roadway. The citizens of Dallas will have their
own debate about the principles of the roadway but this
inquiry was not dealing with those principle issues.
(5) This review is by its very nature cursory the participants
had very few days of exploration and creative work so all
conclusions and propositions are tentative and, if attractive
to the community or responsible governments, will have to
be double checked, detailed and reconciled with the full
base of knowledge that is available for the project. This will
have to be done by the multi-disciplinary professionals who
are responsible for different aspects of the project.
(6) Any errors or oversights in this review are the
responsibility of the participants, not the conveners
or advisors all of whom provided fully and fairly the
knowledge and information they have about the project.

This review was undertaken within the context of three

important earlier or ongoing activities that are vital to
understand: the original City of Dallas approved Balanced
Vision Plan for the Trinity River Corridor; the Trinity Parkway
Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) under the
authority of the US Department of Transportation and the
Federal Highway Administration, and the Dallas Floodway
Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) under
the authority of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.
To fully appreciate the documentation and conclusions
that follow on the roadway review, an understanding of
these activities is helpful. The Balanced Vision Plan can
be reviewed by accessing the following web link: www.
trinityrivercorridor.com/about/balanced-vision-plan.html
The Environmental Impact Statements can be accessed by
accessing the following additional web links: https://www.
ntta.org/roadsprojects/futproj/trihwy/Documents/Record_
of_Decision.pdf. While there was some anxiety among the
sponsors of our efforts that our work might intrude upon
the pending decisions for the environmental assessments,
the charrette group felt that since ours was an exploratory
effort only and not under the auspices of any responsible
government, and since we have no authority whatsoever
to shift any direction in this process, and since any of our
ideas would be subject to attention by both the public and
technical experts, the work is very separate from the official
process and should not impact that process. We are simply
a group of thinkers thinking out loud.

A Balanced Vision Plan

for the
Trinity River Corridor
Dallas, Texas

December, 2003

008

PLANNING WORKSHOP
DECEMBER, 2014
INITIAL REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS

The initial planning workshop in this review was held on

December 1 - 4, 2014, at the Landmark Center, 1801 N.
Lamar Street, in Dallas.
This workshop was convened as preparatory to the full
charrette. The intention of the session was to make sure
that key participants fully understood the situation and were
agreeable to the issues to be addressed, the parameters
that we would work within, the agenda that we would follow
in the charrette and the support materials that were felt to
be relevant for the charrette. Essentially the purpose of
the workshop was to design the charrette event that would
follow at a later date.
The agenda of the workshop had three main activities.
First, the participants heard full briefings from
representatives of the responsible local government
organizations and agencies about the current situation of
the roadway design, approval process, funding status,
issues, concerns. We asked the officials to refrain from
giving us opinions or advocating a particular design or
solution but, rather, to provide detailed information to
augment the documentation available to us from the plans
and environmental assessment that had been provided to
us. This involved presentations and extensive questioning.
Second, the participants discussed among themselves their
sense of the issues at play in this project and then decided
what the basic parameters would be for the review. These
parameters are those listed in the introduction to this report.
Several findings are particularly notable.
(1) We all fully embraced the principles and concepts of
the Balanced Vision Plan and decided that would be the
benchmark for our roadway review.

(2) We all agreed that some form of vehicular access over

the levees to the park was essential. The park is unusually
isolated by the levees and its potential cannot be fully
realized without some form of vehicular access. Vehicular
access along the north side of the Trinity River corridor
would once-and-for-all break down the alienation of the
river corridor from the people of Dallas. Therefore we
were comfortable to leave the no-road option off the table
for our review. We discussed the three basic forms this
vehicular access might take a full highway, a parkway, and
a conventional street and we agreed that the focus of our
review would be a parkway, consistent with the initial vision
of the Balanced Vision Plan. A full limited-access highway
is not needed and would have too many impacts. A typical
conventional city street with intersections and lights is not
practical because of the barrier of the levees from the city
street network. Therefore, we felt an elegant, meandering
parkway with a modest scale and profile has the best
chance of balancing all interests and meeting the capacity
needs. However, we agreed that the definitions and
differentiations between these forms would be fully explored
in the charrette.
(3) We all agreed to accept that a levee-top street was
unlikely to ever be approved by the responsible authorities.
This option would therefore not be a primary focus for the
review, although we would keep similar adjacent street
options, not intruding on the engineering of the levees, in
the discussion, especially to more fully realize economic
development opportunities.
(4) We agreed to try to stay as far as practicable within the
parameters of the environmental assessment in discussion
of the roadway solutions. Officials had confirmed for us
that within the design scheme put forward for approval,
implementation might be broken into phases, with less than
the complete scheme initially undertaken in fact, they said
this was likely because of current budget constraints. While

we agreed to keep this in mind in what we would explore,

we did not agree to fully embrace the concept of a phase
one approach, or to rule ideas in or out of our findings on
that basis. Instead, we agreed to explore and propose
what we felt would be an optimal scheme for Dallas in this
generation of development.

-Third, we fully discussed the logistics of the charrette with

a significant process to determine and cluster the issues,
to set the format and agenda from this clustering of issues,
and to identify information needs and other requirements
that would be helpful for the charrette.
Design participants in the workshop:
The following design professionals participated in the
workshop:
Dr. Larry Beasley Larry acted as the Chair and Facilitator
of the workshop, Mr. Alex Krieger, Dr. John Alschuler, Ms.
Elissa Hoagland Izmailyan, Mr. Allan Jacobs, Dr. Elizabeth
Macdonald, Mr. Brent Brown, and Mr. Jeff Tumlin.
Resource people for the workshop:
The following government and agency officials and other
people acted as resource people for the workshop,
providing information briefings and answering questions:
Mr. Haroon Abdoh, Ms. Tanya Brooks, Mr. Mohamed Bur,
Mr. Peer Chacko, Mr. Craig Holcomb, Ms. Jill Jordan, Mr.
Keith Manoy, Mr. Michael Morris, Ms. Elizabeth Mow, Mr.
Mark Rauscher, Ms. Sarah Standifer, Mr. Tim Starr, Ms.
Mary Suhm, Dr. Gail Thomas, Mr. Evan Sheets, and Mr.
Arturo Del Castillo.
The following is a summary of the findings of the workshop
regarding the nature of the upcoming charrette.

010

THE WORKSHOP CONCLUDED THAT THE

THREE LINES OF INQUIRY AND DESIGN IN THE
CHARRETTE WOULD BE AS FOLLOWS:
(1) the design of the parkway in regard to capacity needs for
through movement and downtown access and in regard to
the adjacent park pattern and the preferred pattern of the
adjacent city to maximize economic development potential;
(2) the configuration of the park especially in regard to
the preferred parkway design and potential to enhance
economic development of the city (we agreed this
would not be an overall redesign of the park but, rather,
suggestions for amendment to the existing overall design
to be compatible with the preferred parkway design and
economic development findings); and,
(3) the preferred urban patterns to maximize economic
development, within the adjacent city, especially in regard
to the preferred patterns for the parkway and park (this
to include preferred street and vehicular access options,
preferred walking and cycling options and expected and
preferred development patterns).
The workshop concluded that the charrette should not be
a public event with access by the media or other visitors. It
was further agreed that staff of the involved governments
would not participate except for a short appearance at the
beginning to provide information on any change in status of
the facts presented in this workshop. Having said this, we
did appreciate several staff offering technical and logistical
support. We came to these conclusions for three reasons.
First, we were not sure we would come up with anything
interesting or helpful so we did not want to get any hopes
up. Second, we did not want the whole thing to be taken
over by the yes or no debate that is raging in Dallas right
now (not much air time would be left for the kind of fresh
inquiry we felt we might be able to do). Third, for creative
things to spark in our field, you have to have a studio
atmosphere of design and exploration not an argumentative

debating platform. These decisions were agreed in the

interest of facilitating the production and creativity of the
experts in the charrette. In any event, as already noted,
we felt that anything we came up with would need full
community review and discussion before it could be taken
too seriously by anyone. Of course, it would also need a lot
of technical testing.

top routes, links under parkway/over levee/into city and

real estate development/value capture tollway possibilities,
location of specific park amenities, pedestrian connections
over rail and Stemmons corridor to park, detailed
experience under parkway at outfall, levee crossings
descriptions, existing trail map and trails status (on + off
street).

THE SUMMARY OF ISSUES TO BE EXPLORED IS

AS FOLLOWS:

(4) Consideration of initial parkway patterns: nature of

medians, lanes together or separated, alignment of road
on the bench, lane widths, nature of shoulders, potential
for meandering, local/regional traffic differentiation, noise
attenuation.

The workshop identified the specific kinds of issues to be

explored in the charrette and clustered them into groups
from which it was decided that several days at the charrette
would be sub-group work days focused on these several
clusters of issues. Having said that, we recognized the
detail work might or might not actually cover all the issues
because of lack of time or information or if the key issues
consumed the interests of the sub-groups. The clusters
of issues that we felt should be the beginning point for the
detailed inquiry are as follows.
(1) The design of the park/parkway interface: flood walls,
berms, landscape design/tree planting, street tree patterns,
park access, maintenance, security fencing, lighting, driving
experience, park impacts, water interface patterns, potential
for berms.
(2) Conceptualization of real estate/levee (parkway)
interface: front door orientation, levee development, sumps
development, general economic development strategy,
zoning approach, potential for wealth capture, cross-section
for levee integration, levee-top street development, .25mi.
buffer land use/ownership, needs and possibilities around
the sump system, underground infrastructure possibilities,
connected city links.
(3) Design refinement of general access experience:
pedestrian and cyclist connectivity, outlooks, deck options,
deck treatment/design/finishing/linkages to park, levee-

(5) Consideration of initial ramp patterns: ramps strategy for

local access, location of ramps, configuration and design
impact of ramps, acceleration/deceleration lanes (grades),
benefits of ramps, impacts of ramps, local traffic distribution,
bridge and elevation geometries, design vehicle standards,
traffic volumes on ramps, variance in traffic projections over
time.
(6) Contextual implications/patterns between the city and
park: city linkages, neighborhood interface conditions, view
sheds, Stemmons considerations, West Dallas and Oak
Cliff considerations, park design features and destinations,
parking in park, pattern of public land holdings nearby,
developer interests/aspirations, neighborhood plans.
(7) Specific consideration for the two ends of the parkway:
general demographics, commercial activities underneath on
north end, thoughts on development on west side.
The workshop then devised the agenda for the charrette
based upon the understanding of the detailed work to be
completed. The charrette agenda is documented in the
appendix.
The workshop concluded that a certain balance of expertise
is essential. It was felt that the visiting participants at the

workshop should attend the charrette and that, in addition,

if possible, the charrette should include the following
expertise: hydrological engineer with experience of urban
rivers; and a landscape architect. It was recognized that
because of availability or budget this might not be possible
in all cases.
The workshop generated a list of materials and additional
information that it was felt would be helpful at the charrette.
It was acknowledged that this material may or may not be
forthcoming and, in any event, it was understood that this
information represented a level of detail that would probably
not be possible to explore fully in the charrette. It was
concluded that the charrette would work primarily from
the information on the public record in the environmental
assessment documents and elsewhere and that the
information list represented more than anything the direction
of inquiry that was in peoples thoughts. It was an interesting
exercise for participants to understand in more detail
the thinking of other participants. The list of interesting
materials included the following but in the end we worked in
the charrette with what we had available and at the level of
inquiry that was possible in the timeframe, this proved to be
adequate.
THE LIST OF THESE MATERIALS IS AS FOLLOWS:
(1) The design of the park/parkway interface: parameters for
introducing trees, berms, decking; implications of editing
the ratio of trees to water; parameters on alterations to
the flood wall; parameters on alterations to the security
wall; parameters on alterations to the maintenance roads;
parameters on alterations to the decks, overlooks, and
bridges from levees across the parkway; cross sections of
the parkway/park interface in multiple unique and typical
locations as currently designed in the roadway plans and
the park plans (these should be at a large enough scale
to facilitate detailed design sketching and extend to the
levee); perspective drawings we can sketch over for multiple
locations on the interface; exact physical constraints

imposed by the two environmental assessment documents;

clear articulation of the performance criteria underlying the
engineering designs that have been done; clear information
on the assumptions contained in the floodway hydrology
model; any precedents for floodway design that might
exist that would be helpful ideas to inspire a more creative
parkway/park interface.
(2) Conceptualizing real estate/levee (parkway) interface:
.25mi. land use + land ownership buffer on both edges
of river corridor; needs/possibilities around the sump
system called the Trinity Ponds; all capital plans in area
(TIFs, MUDs) and their funding arrangements; buried
infrastructure (current and proposed/potential); Connected
City design challenge recommendations (+key analyses);
ownership map; summary of existing zoning and land use
regulatory structure; available market studies/brokerage
reports for downtown; most recent census data for abutting
neighborhoods + density-per-acre of residential fabric;
structural or other restrictions related to levees (setback,
pedestrian options, etc.).

(6) Contextual implications/patterns - city + park: current

parking plan; pattern of public land holdings in adjacent
areas; developer interests/aspirations in area; current
neighborhood plans.
(7) Specific consideration for the two ends: general
population demographics and income data; proposed
commercial activities underneath built structures on north
end; thoughts on development along the western/southern
edge; parks and open space maps; existing neighborhood
plans; current trail plan, recreational areas in the forest and
how these might interface with parkway; cross sections (34) on each levee; rendering of potential views; existing public
lands (tracts/parcels).

(4) Consideration of initial parkway patterns: renderings;

details of noise attenuation measure and flexibility; noise
attenuation precedents (other than sound walls).

(8) General needs: the current economic and market

condition of the redevelopment zone; the market position
of the redevelopment zone in the context of the downtown
market; the relevant benchmark indicators of market
position of the downtown relative to other Texas and
other major metro areas; baseline information on the
fiscal contributions of the zone and its land use regulatory
structure (including current tax value of redevelopment
zone, average tax value per acre of downtown, a
current ownership map, summary of existing zoning in
redevelopment areas and for abutting downtown districts,
available market studies/brokerage reports for downtown
and abutting neighborhoods, summary of last 20 years
of census data for downtown and abutting neighborhood
noting residential populations, calculation of downtown
residential population/translation into density-per-acre for
downtown, and inventory of potential revenue generating
opportunities for park construction and operations including
TIFs, toll revenues, BIDs, public land proceeds and the like).

(5) Consideration of initial ramps patterns: detailed origin

and destination data; design vehicle standards (turn radii,
ramp grade, etc.); traffic volumes; current staging plans;
variance in traffic projections over time.

The workshop completed its discussions by devising and

editing a workshop statement to be made available to
media and the public. After the workshop, this statement
was circulated widely and is available on the public record.

(3) Design refinement of access (pedestrian) experience:

toll road limitations; location of specific park amenities; all
contemplated improvements for pedestrian connections
over rail and Stemmons corridor to the park; detailed
experience under parkway at outfalls; levee crossing
descriptions; existing trail map and indication of trail status
(on- and off-street); rules for low level landscaping such as
grasses.

012

THE CHARRETTE

The purpose of the charrette was, as agreed at the

workshop, to conclude on a preferred design of the
parkway to meet capacity needs, preferred patterns
for the park, and preferred urban patterns within the
adjacent city to maximize economic development, all in
regard to one another.

The work was generated from the best thinking of

the participants in regard to optimal solutions for this
particular situation based upon our knowledge and
experience elsewhere. We did not collect new data.
We did not discuss funding. We did not concern
ourselves with the political aspects. We did not debate
yes or no in principle regarding the road. We listed
useful information to have available but did not let the
absence of that information deter our creative process.
We concentrated on the north side of the river corridor
because this will be the location of the new parkway,
acknowledging that there is great potential for change
on the south side of the river corridor and significant
planning has already been underway there. We did talk
about implications south of the river as we discussed
preferred options north of the river.
There were significant caveats on the findings of the
charrette. Most importantly, the charrette represents
only three days work, therefore all findings are high level
and conceptual and all ideas need testing and detailing
as well as checking with the responsible governments
and agencies for viability and fit. No detailed design
was attempted we were looking for interesting and
suitable solutions that could fit together into a coherent
concept and that would show enough merit and potential
to justify detailed design. Our concluding concepts
need refinement before they might be presented to any
authorities. Equally importantly, because the charrette
was not a public event and did not have the specific input
of Dallas citizens, all ideas and design proposals need

public engagement, review and input in a systematic

process.

Throughout the charrette we struggled with the

implications of what we were considering for the
environmental assessment process that is underway.
On the one hand, we could not say unequivocally that
we would stay totally within the parameters of the
submission, as a first phase of development. We felt
we needed to explore all relevant options. On the other
hand, we did not wish to capsize or complicate the
application now in process, so we tried to be mindful
of the parameters as we investigated ideas. In the end,
without feeling constrained, we were able to essentially
stay within the key parameters, so our proposal can be
seen as a first phase of build-out, if the authorities accept
that many of our design ideas represent a level of detail
design that would normally be expected from what is
proposed in the current application. Having said that,
the charrette group was firm in saying that the proposal
we have conceived is all that Dallas needs to meet the
capacity projections for at least the next 25 years, and
probably even longer, so that future development beyond
our proposal should really be left to the powers-that-be
and the community at that distant time in the future. In
any event, we constantly reminded ourselves and here
remind the reader that we do not represent any of the
responsible governments or agencies and no one should
assume that our ideas override the application now
in process with the Federal Government or have any
bearing on that application.

The design participants at the charrette were as follow:

Dr. Larry Beasley Larry acted as the Chair and
Facilitator of the charrette, Mr. Alex Krieger, Dr.
John Alschuler, Ms. Elissa Hoagland Izmailyan,
Mr. Allan Jacobs, Dr. Elizabeth Macdonald,
Mr. Jeff Tumlin, Mr. Alan Mountjoy, Mr. Ignacio
Bunster-Ossa, Dr. Timothy Dekker, Ms. Zabe
Bent, Dr. Mark Simmons, Mr. Brent Brown, and,
Dr. Gail Thomas.
Biographical sketches of the visiting professionals are
included in the Appendix.

The charrette also enjoyed the support of a number

of technical staff provided by several organizations.
These people provided logistical and technical support.
Representatives of the host organzations also attended
the charrette but were asked not to influence the dialogue
of the design professionals participating.
The detailed agenda of the charrette is included in the
Appendix.

014

CHARRETTE OUTCOMES
The findings of the charrette are essentially represented in
a set of sketch drawings and plans that follow. It is notable
that we again unanimously reconfirmed our support for
the Balanced Vision Plan as the basis upon which all ideas
should be judged. We also again strongly reconfirmed from
the basic choices for the roadway configuration highway,
parkway, conventional city street, nothing that a parkway
was the best solution for this setting. The parameters of
a parkway, to differentiate it from the other road formats,
is essentially that it has a minimum cross-section to carry
the targeted capacity, may have pull-offs and parking
associated with it, has limited ramps, may have less
stringent design standards than a freeway or other highway,
includes extensive landscaping, but also has limited access
and does not include conventional intersections with other
streets nor intersection traffic management.
For the parkway, we concluded on the following
fundamental design objectives: to maximize visual
and physical access to the Trinity Park; to facilitate a
convenient auto bypass of downtown (this represents
80% of movements in this corridor only 20% want to
go downtown); and, to catalyze inner-city development
adjacent to Trinity Park (especially for large development
sites at the center of the study area) rather than forestall it.
We concluded that the concept should be for a gracious,
harmonious parkway.
In our deliberations we found two sets of data especially
informative and influential in our thinking. First, it was vital
to understand the demand projection for vehicles in this
transportation corridor up to 2035 as submitted in the
environmental assessment documentation. We felt this
projection is at the very edge of what it is possible
photograph of charrette wall with collection of drawings and parkway plan produced during the charrette

to confidently project and that projections beyond this

timeframe are very speculative. Second, it was enlightening
to understand the actual historic pattern of floods of the river
corridor based on measurements regularly documented so
that an informed judgment might be made about tolerance
for floods of the parkway moving into the future. We felt the
100-year flood standard is somewhat excessive.
We had extensive discussion of the appropriate design
speed that should prevail in the configuration of the
parkway. We understand the current design speed is
55-miles-per-hour. Several of our participants advocated
a 35-miles-per-hour design speed but the majority of
participants felt the design speed was less relevant than the
specific design improvements that we proposed. We did
not find consensus on this matter. Two participants, Allen
Jacobs and Elizabeth MacDonald, specifically requested
that their disagreement with this conclusion be noted in this
report. They were strong advocates for a 35-miles-perhour design speed. The majority view was not to challenge
the existing design speed but to propose whatever design
solutions we felt were appropriate, regardless of design
speed, and then let the design speed fall out of those
conclusions. We also felt the actual speed would very
dramatically between weekday peaks and weekend slow
times. The majority view was to see the transportation
corridor managed so that opportunities for park access and
experience could be enhanced during slow periods the
weekends being when most people might like to visit or
overview the park.

016

The drawings in the following section represent

twenty key ideas for the parkway, park and
economic development. THESE ARE ORGANIZED AS
CONFIRMATIONS, VARIATIONS, DESIGN REFINEMENTS
AND DEVELOPMENT STRATIEGIES. These ideas are as
follows:
There were ten primary proposals and a further ten supportive proposals. These are highlighted as such in the
following section. Together these represent the full vision conceived at the charrette.

CONFIRMATIONS

Variations

DESIGN
REFINEMENTS

four proposals are confirmations

of solutions from the scheme
that is currently the subject of
the environmental assessment
application.

five proposals are variations

of solutions from the scheme
that is currently the subject of
the environmental assessment
application. These can be seen as
compatible features for immediate
implementation.

seven proposals represent

further refinements of the scheme
that is currently the subject of
the environmental assessment
application these being features
for detailed design for immediate
implementation.

DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGIES
four proposals represent a
practical economic development
strategy, maximizing the potential
of the park and parkway, defining
four major urban districts and
compatible development at both
the north and south ends of the
parkway, before it joins existing
highways.

018
charrette Diagram of 15 proposed pedestrian connections from Dallas to the Trinity River over or under the proposed parkway

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SUPPORTIVE

Roadway and LAND bench

elevations, roadway corridor
and end connections to
highways GENERALLY AS EARLIER
PROPOSED.

Pedestrian links across the

parkway GENERALY AS EARLIER
PROPOSED 15 links under and
over the parkway at ABOUT 1/4
mile intervals.

Top-of-levee bikeways AND

pedestrian paths GENERALLY AS
EARLIER PROPOSED.

Service roads/bikeways/
pedestrian paths around the
parkway generally AS EARLIER
PROPOSED.

confirmation #1

sketch of pedestrian connection from meanders to the

Trinity River over the levee and parkway

confirmation #2 confirmation #3 confirmation #4

020
SECTIONAL SKETCH OF FOUR LANE PARKWAY

sECTIONAL SKETCH OF FOUR LANE PARKWAY AND ACCESS PARKING LOT

RECOMMENDED ACCESS POINTS TO PARKWAY

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

SUPPORTIVE

Only build A 4 LANE roadway now fit

THOSE 4 lanes of traffic (narrower
lanes + grass shoulders) meandering
within the approved road corridor.

Build fewer ramps. Only build two

set of ramps ACCESSING THE INNER CITY
for the foreseeable future: 1 on/
off pair at the north end NEAR THE
medical district and 1 on/off pair at
the south end NEAR cedar crest.

Ban trucks EXCEPT FOR EMERGENCIES.

VARIATION #1

VARIATION #2

Later when development is underway a final, third on/

off pair at the high-density center adjacent to big
development sites if this assists such development but
with a less impactful, low-profile design).

VARIATION #3

traffic projections / comparion design to proposed roadways

MERRIT PARKWAY

022
SKETCH OF RECOMMENDED PARKWAY (IN BLUE) BETWEEN SYLVAN AVE AND CONTINENTAL BRIDGES SHOWING MEANDERING ALIGNMENT AND LOCATION FOR LOW SPEEDTURNAROUND AT OUTFALLS.

WEEKEND
on street parking

SUPPORTIVE

SUPPORTIVE

Add a U-turn option within the

parkway corridor at mid-point.

Allow on-street parking along the

parkway on weekend slow periods
AND SPECIAL OCCASIONS.

VARIATION #4

CHARRETTE SKETCH OF PARKWAY SECTION SHOWING TYPICAL SETBACKS OF TREES FROM PARKWAY

VARIATION #5

024
SKETCH OVERLAY SHOWING VIEW OPPORTUNITIES FROM PARKWAY INTO THE TRINITY FOREST EAST OF THE DART OVERPASS AT CORINTH BRIDGE

GEORGE WASHINGTON MEMORAIL PARKWAY IN D.C. IS THE

IDEAL URBAN PARKWAY ENVISIONED FOR THE TRINITY

SKETCH VIEW OF SYLVAN BRIDGE RAMP AND PARKWAY CONCEPT

SKETCH SECTIONS OF TREE PLANTING CONCEPT

PRIMARY

PRIMARY

Meander the parkway within the

approved road corridor so that
future road sections can be finished
now as pull-off parking areas on
both sides of the parkway for park
access and scenic overlook.

Design refinement of the landscape

configuration to add a consistent
linear tree pattern at about 20
- 40-centers along the parkway
making it a tree-lined parkway for
character and beauty.

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #1

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #2

DIAGRAM SHOWING LOCAIIONS OF POTENTIAL ACCESS PARKING LOTS ALONG PARKWAY AND SECTIONAL CONDITION

storrow drive

026

post charrette RENDERING OF PARK ACCESS POINT AT TURTLE CREEK OUTFALL

028

ABOVE 100 YEAR FLOOD

BELOW 100 YEAR FLOOD
EXAMPLE OF ARMORED LANDSCAPE IN FLOODWAY

Map of parkway elevations relative to Trinity River flood risk

ABOVE 100 YEAR FLOOD

EXAMPLE OF TERRACED LAWN IN FLOODWAY

flooding history 1908 - 2014

PRIMARY

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #4

PRIMARY

Design refinement of flood protection barriers with landscape, art, wall

treatments and hillocks or berms to eliminate blank walls and secure more
pervasive views of the park and to add character, interest, and a strong
ecological strategy all along the parkway.

Design refinement of the landscape

configuration to add character,
interest, and a strong ecologICAL
strategy all along the parkway,
especially along the land bench
edges and at stream outfall areas.

An optimal solution would be to refine the design to a 10-year flood standard, acknowledge the occasional flooding
of the parkway, in order to open up major views for parkway users. If the experience of occasional flooding of the
parkway (probably about once in a decade for a day or so) is not found to be acceptable to the people of Dallas, then
an acceptable solution would be to refine the design to a 50-year flood standard or even stay with the 100-year flood
standard but using berms and other methods other than blank walls wherever practical, thus at least creating close-in
attractive views of park character for parkway users.

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #3

CHARRETTE SKETCH OF LANDSCAPE TREATMENT ALONG PARKWAY

ARMORED RIVERSCAPE IN PITTSBURGH

030

SKETCH OF TYPICAL FLOOWAY OUTFALL WITH ADDED PEDESTRIAN ACCESS ROUTES

SKETCH OF AT GRADE PARKWAY CROSSING CONCEPT

POST CHARRETTE RENDERING OF PARKWAY AND PARK ACCESS POINT FROM INWOOD RD BRIDGE

SUPPORTIVE

PRIMARY

Design refinement to exploit five

major WOW views over the parkway

Allow TOLL free park use from the

Parkway

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #5

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #6

Pursue a variation of the tolling strategy to facilitate

equitable park use for example, forgive the toll when
there is a 1-hour or longer stop along the parkway.

SKETCH OF PARKING AREAS ALONG THE PARKWAY TO ACCESS PARK LANDS

032

charrette key plan

DRAWING LEGEND
PEDESTRIAN/BIKE CONNECTION UNDER PARKWAY
PEDESTRIAN/BIKE CONNECTION OVER PARKWAY
MAJOR VIEWING POINTS
PARKWAY
BRIDGE
MAJOR STREET
PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE

SUPPORTIVE

DESIGN
REFINEMENT #7

Locate transit stops so as to

enhance transit-user access to the
park over the parkway for example,
provide a Houston Bridge streetcar
stop and a Riverfront Boulevard bus
stop.

RAIL
TRAIL
LEVEE
DECK OVER HIGHWAY
PARK
FOREST
RIVER/LAKE
PARKING

DALLAS KEY MAP

034
SKETCH SECTION AT REUNION OVERLOOK SHOWING ADJACENT DEVELOPMENT AND A NEW STREET BEHIND THE LEVEE

PRIMARY

SUPPORTIVE

For the REUNION/COMMERCE and

Mix Master District catalyze
development to happen earlier than
expected by allowing development
to locate as close to the park as
possible.

For the Design District, facilitate

the current incremental
development trend with regular and
attractive pedestrian connections
across the parkway to the park.

DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY #1

DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY #2

DEVELOPMENT AT SUMP

CHARRETTE DIAGRAM SHOWING KEY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS IN DOWNTOWN, DESIGN DISTRICT, SOUTH DALLAS AND OAK CLIFF

036

SKETCH SECTION SHOWING PEDESTRIAN CONNECTION FROM DESIGN DISTRICT TO PARK AT OUTFALL

TEMPORARY RETAIL USES UNDER ELEVATED HIGHWAY CONDITIONS

SKETCH SECTION THROUGH LANDSCAPED OUTFALL WITH LEVEE BEYOND

SKTECH PLAN AT SHOWING PARKWAY ENTRANCE TO FLOODWAY AT INWOOD BRIDGE

DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY AS PARKWAY EXTENDS EASTWARD

UNDERNEATH S. LAMAR AND S.M. WRIGHT

SUPPORTIVE

DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY #4

SUPPORTIVE

DEVELOPMENT
STRATEGY #3

SKETCH PLAN SHOWING PEDESTRIAN ACCESS OVER THE LEVEE TO LAKES

For the Southside District,

facilitate the current development
inclination by enhancing the sump
water bodies as the primary amenities
in this district the park and
parkway are less important.

EXAMPLE OF UNDER-HIGHWAY PLAY AREA

For the districts at the far north

and south ends of the parkway, just
before it joins the existing highways,
build under or over the roadway
elevation within the alignment so
that the parkway development spurs
private development that augments
the neighborhoods

038

POST CHARRETTE RENDERING OF REUNION OVERLOOK AT DOWNTOWN LAKE

040

CONCLUDING STATEMENT
We are confident that all of these twenty ideas and
proposals fit within the responsible governments and
agencies policies, although they may have to make
adjustments within the specifics of these policies.
These ideas can be seen to be a first phase of build
out of the scheme that is currently under evaluation for
environmental approval but, just as importantly, we feel
it is all that Dallas needs for the foreseeable future so
build-out might be a long time in coming or maybe will
never be needed. Much of what we propose can be seen
as detailed refinement of the design that is under scrutiny
by the current environmental assessment.
We also offer advice to secure this vision of a gracious
and harmonious parkway. First, our vision needs detailed
multi-disciplinary design refinement and all assumptions
need to be double checked. Second, henceforth, all
design work should include strong urban design prowess
and should be completed in concept and detail by a
fully multi-disciplinary team of engineers, architects,
landscape architects, urban designers, environmental
specialists and other relevant disciplines and should not
just be driven by applying typical engineering standards.
Third, a careful monitoring of implementation must be
undertaken, involving both professional and citizen
monitors on an ongoing basis.
The participants in this review had to walk a very fine
line between general philosophical views and what
they consider best world practice, the particular
circumstances and needs in Dallas, the official status of
the process for this project, and their judgment about the

expectations of future Dallas residents. Having said this,

throughout the review we have tried to err on the side of
what will be best for Dallas now and into the future, not
what have been the conclusions of the past. We were
also trying to discover how to move a compatible project
forward so that the needs of many interests can be
satisfied but also balanced and especially so the new
park can move forward in a timely way. In our preferred
scheme, no one interest prevails over another and all
interests have been subject to some concessions and
compromises. At the same time, we firmly believe the
proposed pattern works well as a whole, fully satisfies
the projected movement demands in this corridor,
minimizes park impacts but also dramatically enhances
park accessibility and experience, and maximizes
practical economic development potential on adjacent
lands, especially for the large parcels now pending
development.
We all hope the citizens and leaders in Dallas and the
responsible governments and agencies for this project
will have the courage to shift from the current status quo
and embrace the solutions that we have put forward
that we strongly feel will speak to many hopes and
expectations rather than only a few.

042

044

A1: VISITING DESIGN PROFESSIONALS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

046

ALEX KRIEGER

LARRY BEASLEY
Larry Beasley is the retired Chief Planner for the City of
Vancouver. He is now the founding principal of Beasley
and Associates, an international planning and urban
design consultancy and the Distinguished Practice
Professor of Planning at the University of British
Columbia. He is a Registered Professional Planner in
Canada.
After more than thirty years of civic service in which
he led the planning and development management
initiatives to transform Vancouver into a world model
for contemporary sustainable and liveable cities, Larry
Beasley now teaches and advises on urbanism around
the world. He chairs the National Advisory Committee
on Planning, Design and Realty of Ottawas National
Capital Commission; he is Senior Advisor on Urban
Design in Dallas, Texas; and he is a member of the
International Economic Development Advisory Board
of Rotterdam in The Netherlands. Through selected
projects, he continues his long service as the Special
Advisor on City Planning to the Government of Abu
Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates where he helped
to found the Urban Planning Council, one of the most
progressive planning agencies in the Middle East, and
led the design of a number of cities and towns, including
a new national capital. For several years, he was vicepresident of a major Canadian development company,
Aquilini Development, managing projects across the
country. Recent notable work includes: completion of
an award-winning plan for the expansion of Moscow
in Russia, including the design of a new national
government precinct; completion of an influential strategic
organizational plan for the Toronto Planning Department;
and, curation of an international design competition in
Dallas for the integration of downtown and its river.

Initially studying architecture, Larry Beasley has Degrees

in Geography and Political Science (BA) and Planning
(MA). He has also been awarded two Honorary Doctorate
Degrees (Hon LLD), from Simon Fraser University and
Dalhousie University. He is a Fellow of the Canadian
Institute of Planners, an Honorary Member of the
Canadian Society of Landscape Architects and has been
recognized as an Advocate for Architecture by the Royal
Architectural Institute of Canada. In 2007, he received
the Kevin Lynch Prize from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. He is a Fellow of the Dallas Institute and sits
on the Board of the Canadian Urban Institute.
Larry Beasley is a Member of the Order of Canada,
Canada highest civilian honour for lifetime achievement.
In recognition of his service, he has also received the
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.

Alex Krieger, FAIA has combined a career of teaching and

practice, dedicating himself in both to understanding how to
improve the quality of place and life in our major urban areas.
Mr. Krieger is a professor at the Harvard Graduate School
of Design, where he has taught since 1977. He served
as Chairman of the Department of Urban Planning and
Design, 1998-2004 and 2006-2007, as Director of the
Urban Design Program, 1990-2001, and as Associate
Chairman of the Department of Architecture, 1984-1989.
In 2003, 2005, and 2007, he was honored as one of
the outstanding teachers at Harvard University. Design
Intelligence Magazine annual national survey named him
one of seven 2007 Architectural Educators of the Year.
Mr. Krieger is a principal at NBBJ, a global architecture
and planning firm. Offering services in architecture, urban
design and planning since 1984, the studio, formerly
Chan Krieger Sieniewicz, has served a broad array of
clients in numerous cities worldwide, focusing primarily
on educational, institutional, healthcare and public
projects in complex urban settings.
Mr. Kriegers major publications include: Co-editing
Urban Design (University of Minnesota Press, 2008)
two volumes of Harvard Design Magazine, (focusing
on the evolution of urban design as a discipline), 200506; Remaking the Urban Waterfront, 2004; Mapping
Boston, 1999; Towns and Town Planning Principles,
1994; A Design Primer for Towns and Cities, 1990; and
Past Futures: Two Centuries of Imagining Boston, 1988.
He has also authored more than two-dozen essays
on American urbanization for various publications.
He lectures frequently at national conferences and
universities.

Mr. Krieger is a frequent advisor to mayors and their

planning staffs, and serves on a number of boards and
commissions. Among these: The U.S. Commission
of Fine Arts, 2012-pr.; Director of the NEAs Mayors
Institute in City Design, 1994-1999; Founder and codirector of the Large City Planners Institute, 1999- pr.;
Boston Civic Design Commission, 1989-1987; Providence
Capital Center Commission, 1990-1998; and as a
Design Excellence Peer for the U.S. General Services
Administration.
Mr. Krieger received a Bachelor of Architecture degree
from Cornell University and a Master of City Planning in
Urban Design degree from Harvard. He is a Fellow of the
American Institute of Architects.

048

JEFF TUMLIN
Jeff Tumlin is an expert in helping communities move
from discord to agreement about the future. For
more than twenty years, Jeff Tumlin has led awardwinning plans in cities from Seattle and Vancouver to
Moscow and Abu Dhabi. He helps balance all modes
of transportation in complex places to achieve a
communitys wider goals and best utilize their limited
resources. He has developed transformative plans
throughout the world that accommodate millions of
square feet of growth with no net increase in motor
vehicle traffic.

ZABE BENT
Jeff is renowned for helping people define what
they value and building consensus on complex and
controversial projects. He provides residents and
stakeholders the tools they need to evaluate their
transportation investments in the context of achieving
their long-term goals. He understands that managing
parking and transportation demand is a critical tool for
revitalizing city centers and creating sustainable places.
A dynamic and frequent guest speaker, Jeff is the author
of Sustainable Transportation Planning: Tools for Creating
Healthy, Vibrant and Resilient Communities (Wiley, 2012).

Zabe Bent is renowned for her ability to communicate

vital insights, critical project features and tradeoffs, and
ultimately the solutions necessary to advance efforts to
the next stage of development. She has more than 12
years of experience in transportation and multimodal
planning and urban development, with a focus on transit
service and operations planning, complete streets and
urban design, and policy design and development. She
has successfully submitted local, regional, and federal
grant proposals for neighborhood circulation studies,
pedestrian improvements, demand management
initiatives, and more.

A former Principal Planner at the San Francisco County

Transportation Authority, Zabe managed a range of
efforts including San Franciscos congestion pricing
feasibility study and the update to the long range
countywide transportation plan. She led several bus rapid
transit studies and neighborhood plans geared at nearterm improvements to transit, bicyclist, and pedestrian
access. Her portfolio includes strong coordination
with stakeholder groups, transit agencies, and local
governments as well as public outreach to diverse, often
multilingual communities.

050

IGNACIO BUNSTER-OSSA
Ignacio Bunster-Ossa is a Principal with Wallace Roberts
& Todd, LLC, a national planning and design firm
based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As a landscape
architect and urban designer Ignacio specializes in the
revitalization of cities through the planning and design
of urban landscapes. He has led many of the firms
recognized work, including award-winning designs for
Santa Monicas Palisades Park and Beach Boardwalk,
the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative in Washington, D.C.,
the Trinity River Corridor Project in Dallas, and the Steel
Stacks Plaza in Bethlehem, PA.

TIMOTHY DEKKER
Ignacio holds a Bachelor of Architecture from the
University of Miami (FLA), a Master of Landscape
Architecture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a
Loeb Fellowship in Environmental Studies from Harvard
University. He is a faculty member of the Urban Land
Institute Rose Center for Public Leadership and Land Use
and serves on the board of the Landscape Architecture
Foundation. He is also co-author author of Green
Infrastructure: A Landscape Approach, and author
of Reconsidering Ian McHarg: the Future of Urban
Ecology, both APA publications.

Timothy Dekker, Vice President and Senior Engineer with

LimnoTech in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is an environmental
and water resources engineer with expertise in all
aspects of river, lake and estuary remediation and
restoration. Tim has led field studies and has developed
numerical modeling applications at sites throughout
North America, describing the dynamics of surface
water, sediments, and groundwater systems; analyzing
and mitigating the effects of urban flooding, analyzing
contaminant fate and transport; and using contaminant
forensics to understand the history of contaminated sites.
Tim has participated in numerous successful national
design competitions and projects focusing on

the restoration and revitalization of urban waterfronts,

and actively works around the United States and Canada
to advance the science and practice of urban river
restoration.
Tim received his Doctorate in Environmental Engineering
at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1996
and has served as a lecturer and adjunct professor of
environmental engineering there. Tim is also a regular
lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of
Design.

052

Elizabeth Macdonald
Elizabeth Macdonald is an urban designer. Her research
focuses on street design and the history of urban form.
Particular interests include: the impacts of engineering
street standards on the pedestrian realm; context
sensitive street design; North American waterfront
promenades and their impacts on physical activity; the
interface between buildings and the public realm; post
occupancy evaluation of urban design plans and projects;
the sustainability dimensions of urban design; urban
design graphic communication; and methods for urban
design knowledge-building.
Professor Macdonald is a registered architect and a
partner in the urban design firm Cityworks. Recent
professional design projects include the design for
Octavia Boulevard in San Francisco (to replace the
earthquake damaged Central Freeway), and redesigns
for Pacific Boulevard in Vancouver, British Columbia,
International Boulevard in Oaklands Fruitvale District, and
C.G. Road in Ahmedabad, India. Professional planning
projects include consulting on streetscape design for
Plan Abu Dhabi 2030, San Franciscos Better Streets
Plan, and San Franciscos Market/Octavia Neighborhood
Plan. Recent charette workshops led by Cityworks
include those for central Broadway in Vancouver, British
Columbia; three central area streets in Rotterdam;
Pine Tree Drive and Clarke Drive in Coquitlam, British
Columbia; and Cesar Chavez Street in San Francisco;
and projects in association with the Faculty of
Engineering at the University of Ciudad Real, Spain.

Allan Jacobs
A hands-on teacher of urban design, Professor
Macdonalds courses include a focus on learning
empirical observation skills, and graphic and oral
communication skills for presenting design research
and proposals in ways that are readily accessible to
community members, political decision-makers, and
fellow professionals.

Allan Jacobs taught in UC Berkeleys Department of

City and Regional Planning from 1975 to 2001 and twice
served as its Chair. Presently he is a consultant in city
planning and urban design. He received his Bachelor of
Architecture degree from Miami University and studied at
the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He
received his masters degree in city planning in 1954 from
the University of Pennsylvania, where he later taught.
From 1954 to 1955, he was a Fulbright Scholar in City
Planning at University College in London.
Prior to teaching at Berkeley, Professor Jacobs worked
on planning projects in the City of Pittsburgh and for the
Ford Foundation in Calcutta, India, and was for eight
years the Director of the San Francisco Department of
City Planning. Among his many achievements is the now
famous Urban Design Plan for San Francisco. With his
partner Elizabeth Macdonald he designed many streets,
including Octavia Boulevard in San Francisco which
replaced an elevated freeway.

Honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the

Berkeley Citation, and the Kevin Lynch Award from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and fellowships
at the American Academy in Rome. He is author of The
Good City: Reflections and Imaginations (forthcoming),
Great Streets, Looking at Cities, and Making City
Planning Work, and co-author of The Boulevard Book.

054

Elissa Hoagland Izmailyan

Elissa Hoagland Izmailyan provides funding and
governance strategies for public-private investments,
supporting program solutions that maximize project value
and aligning value with implementation opportunities.
Elissas work focuses on master plan support, including
parks, cultural districts, and neighborhood plans.
She leads quantitative and qualitative analysis to
identify opportunities for HR&As clients across North
America and helps to craft actionable strategies for
implementation. Since 2012, Elissa has supported a
comprehensive neighborhood real estate strategy and
implementation plan for the Menil Collection, a leading
contemporary art museum in Houston. As part of the
Office of Metropolitan Architecture-led team for the
Rebuild by Design resiliency design competition, she

John Alschuler
managed the development of an economic impact
framework and implementation approach for flood
defense in Hoboken, New Jersey. The teams winning
proposal was awarded $230-million in federal CDBG-DR
funds to support a first phase of implementation.
Elissas passion for public spaces is central to her work.
Since 2011, Elissa has supported the development of a
funding and management strategy for Waterfront Seattle,
a planned signature public space that will link Seattles
downtown and waterfront assets. On behalf of the Trust
for Public Land, she managed the development of policy
recommendations to encourage the inclusion of PrivatelyOwned Public Spaces in transit-oriented development
along the Green Line in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She has
also managed the development of park funding and

For over 25 years, John Alschuler has guided HR&As

real estate advisory practice. Johns work focuses
on development finance, the revitalization of urban
communities, regional economic development, waterfront
redevelopment and asset planning for institutions.
Johns core skills include structuring of public-private
partnerships, development finance, building parklands,
and creating innovative development strategies. Johns
wide-ranging practice is national and international
in scope ranging from New York to Cincinnati, San
Antonio to London. His work focuses on large-scale
urban transformations, as well as discreet real estate
transactions. Since founding the New York office of
HR&A in 1984, he has led bold investment strategies that
have reshaped important waterfronts, downtown districts
and neighborhoods. John has:
Led the award-winning development of the
4,500 acre Daniel Island in Charleston, South
Carolina for the Guggenheim Foundation;
Conducted a comprehensive review
of master planning efforts for the 2012
Olympic Parklands in London;
Led waterfront development efforts for sites in
New York City, Toronto, Philadelphia, Charleston,
St. Louis, and along a ten mile stretch of the
Anacostia River waterfront in Washington D.C.;
Advised on the creation of a new sustainable
community in the Chengdu Province in
Southwestern China, that will total over 6 million
square feet of mixed-use development;

Created numerous public-private partnerships

including the Center City Development Corporation
(3CDC), the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation
(AWC), the National Capital Revitalization
Corporation (NCRC), and the Columbus Downtown
Development Corporation (CDDC); and
John has held several positions in city governments and
brings his experience in public budgeting and public
finance to his practice. He served as the City Manager
of Santa Monica, California, where he was responsible
for the planning and development of the Third Street
Promenade.
John is a regularly requested speaker for conferences
and events hosted by large professional organizations
throughout the United States and internationally including
the Urban Land Institute (ULI), the New York City Bar
Association, WNYC, the New London Architecture
Centre (NLA), and the International Skyrise Greenery
Conference. John holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University
and a Doctorate from the University of Massachusetts.

056

MARK SIMMONS

ALAN MOUNTJOY
Alan Mountjoy, AIA is the Manager of Urban Design
projects at NBBJ. Before joining the firm in 1997, he
served as a project manager for the Metropolitan District
Commissions New Charles River Basin project in Boston.
Mr. Mountjoy has over 25 years of experience in the fields
of architecture, master planning and urban design. He
has guided the firms prominent large-scale urban design
projects in Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Dallas, Detroit,
Louisville, Pittsburgh, and Washington D.C. and has
served as project manager for projects that range from
architectural elements and urban design for a $110M
highway renovation in Cincinnati to PUD plans for the first
major redevelopment in Historic Anacostia in Washington,
DC. In his role as urban design manager, he coordinates
teams of diverse professionals in architecture, landscape
architecture, real estate economics, transportation

planning, and environmental engineering. Three of his

waterfront projects have received national AIA awards for
design excellence.
In Boston, Mr. Mountjoys work as a planner and urban
designer includes a re-use plan for the U.S. Postal
Service Annex at South Station, a strategic master
plan for the Seaport District in South Boston for the
Massachusetts Port Authority and urban design for
the Causeway Street design in the Boston Crossroads
Initiative. His work on the Boston Seaport master plan
was followed by design review of developer proposals
during the plan build-out.

Mark Simmons, Ph.D. Mark Simmons Ph.D. is Director of

Research and Environmental Design for the Ecosystem
Design Group at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower
Center at the University of Texas. He graduated from
University of Cape Town, South Africa with a M.Sc.
in Botany, and received his Ecology Ph.D. from Texas
A&M University. His research and environmental design
projects focus on creating and rebuilding landscapes
and urban green infrastructure to improve ecosystem
services. Scientific research projects include: green
roofs, green walls, roadside revegetation, prescribed fire,
native turfgrass, urban prairies, and urban storm-water
management.
He works with multidisciplinary design teams for local
and national clients including private developers, city and
state authorities, the US Army Corps of Engineers,

NASA and the National Park Service. Projects include:

George W. Bush Presidential Center; San Antonio River
Mission Reach Restoration; University of Texas Campus
Masterplan; and numerous mixed-use, sustainable
urban developments, highway improvement projects and
restoration of urban prairies. He teaches university and
professional courses on ecological landscape design
and sits on several technical committees including the
Landscape Architecture Foundation and the Sustainable
Sites Initiative (SITESTM). Recent national and
international lectures on ecological design include: The
World Green Roof Congress, Copenhagen 2012; Society
for Urban Ecology, Berlin 2013; International Turf Growers
Conference San Antonio 2013; Canadian Society of
Landscape Architects Congress Ottawa 2014; a TEDx
talk in November 2013; and more recently, the speaker
for the 2013 Oskar von Miller Forum Lecture in Munich,

058

A2: charrette agenda

The arranged agenda for the charrette was as follows,

although several other people visited the charrette during
the four days and the agenda shifted to accommodate
them.
Thursday, February 5

Friday, February 6

Saturday, February 7

Design Participants were Larry Beasley, Alan Jacobs,

John Alschuler, Jeff Tumlin, Zabe Bent, Ignacio Bunster,
Alan Mountjoy, Elissa Hoagland, Brent Brown, Gail
Thomas.

Design participants were Larry Beasley, Alan Jacobs,

John Alschuler, Elizabeth Macdonald, Alex Krieger, Jeff
Tumlin, Zabe Bent, Ignacio Bunster, Alan Mountjoy, Elissa
Hoagland, Tim Dekker, Mark Simmons, Brent Brown, Gail
Thomas.

Design participants were Larry Beasley, Alan Jacobs,

John Alschuler, Elizabeth Macdonald, Alex Krieger, Jeff
Tumlin, Zabe Bent, Ignacio Bunster, Alan Mountjoy, Elissa
Hoagland, Tim Dekker, Mark Simmons, Brent Brown, Gail
Thomas.

Sunday, February 8

08:00 Team arrives

08:00 Team arrives

08:15 Status review & discussion of the day

08:00 Final work product refinement

12:00 Lunch & next steps
13:30 Adjourn

08:00 Team arrives

08:15 Welcome
08:30 Orientation & expectations
09:00 Plenary - Charrette process confirmation
10:30 Plenary - Trinity parkway update & discussion
12:00 Lunch & discussion

08:15 Status & review & discussion of the day

08:30 Discussions of synthesis and directions
10:30 Sub-groups A, B,C Production begins
12:30 Plenary - Lunch & pin-up & discussion

08:30 Sub-group work finishes

12:00 Plenary - Lunch & pin-up & discussion
13:30 Plenary - Integrating strategies from all work Subgroups

13:30 Sub-groups production continues

Note that Ignacio, Bunster, Tim Dekker and Mark

Simmons departed.

17:00 Strategic pin-up & discussion

16:30 Plenary Pin-up & final discussion & confirm

Saturdays agenda

17:00 Plenary - Summarize statements, outstanding

issues

18:00 Adjourn

18:00 Adjourn

18:00 Adjourn

13:30 Sub-group work begins

Note that Alan Jacobs and Elizabeth Macdonald

departed.

Design participants were Larry Beasley, John Alschuler,

Alex Krieger, Jeff Tumlin, Zabe Bent, Alan Mountjoy,
Elissa Hoagland, Brent Brown.